From my experience, the vast majority of females that are "into" metal are either horrendous looking or are fucked up in the head. I've only met a few female metalheads that were good looking and sincere in their liking of metal.

From my experience, the vast majority of females that are "into" metal are either horrendous looking or are fucked up in the head. I've only met a few female metalheads that were good looking and sincere in their liking of metal.

But seriously, that comic pretty much hits the nail on the head, just replace the word "punk" with the word "metal". Its not to say that men arent poseurs either, but I generally find that more women are just into it because their bf/friends/significant other is into it, and they go along with it to help seem like they are accepted.

From my experience, the vast majority of females that are "into" metal are either horrendous looking or are fucked up in the head. I've only met a few female metalheads that were good looking and sincere in their liking of metal.

In general, I've met very few women who are actually passionate about music, bar those who sing or play an instrument.

On topic, hipster metal is something that I associate with wolves in the throne room/velvet cocoon/tumult/hydra head records stuff. I.e art school kids playing with the black metal aesthetic "Ooh exiting 'outsider music'!" and so forth. I wouldn't worry about it though, cool hunters like that won't stick since they are always looking for the next thing.

I generally find that more women are just into it because their bf/friends/significant other is into it, and they go along with it to help seem like they are accepted.

Women aren't seeking to define themselves; they're looking for things that do not threaten their peace of mind. So metal and punk are generally out.

The plus side of women is that they do not worry about the impressions of others, self-definition, and all that. The downside is that as a result, they are not geared toward picking optimal solutions, only adapting to whatever solution presents itself.

Women aren't seeking to define themselves; they're looking for things that do not threaten their peace of mind. So metal and punk are generally out.

The plus side of women is that they do not worry about the impressions of others, self-definition, and all that. The downside is that as a result, they are not geared toward picking optimal solutions, only adapting to whatever solution presents itself.

With due respect, I must disagree with your second point. Many women (actually many people) I know are constantly concerned about the impression they leave on others and critical of the impressions that others leave on them. Bear in mind I am only 21 now, so perhaps those traits will disappear in time. On the other hand, I know plenty of older people who still carry that trait, so I dont know how confident I am that people my age will grow out of it.

I agree with your first point, though. Women who are genuinely into punk or metal act or appear more masculine than other women in most cases, though there are exceptions. Additionally, these genres were founded by men, creating music which was geared towards other men who felt the same way (though their intentions with their music may not have consciously been this).

... but I think women never question their own validity based on the criticisms of others, or at least, it's very rare.

Please - you simply must expound upon this statement! In observing women for nearly four decades of life, I would say without hesitation that precisely the opposite is true. In fact, most women appear pathologically attached to the validation they derive from both the criticism and conversely the praise of others - they feed off the latter and can be wholely devastated by the former! That "give and take" essentially defines many, many females I know and have known personally - though they may profess otherwise or affect indifference toward it all.

I think ASBO may be indicating, if ineffectively, the difference in the way men and women tend to build their egos. Women have their egos simply "be," men actively form theirs. Women tend to be more internally, and men more externally, oriented. We tend to define ourselves by our jobs, our actions, our thoughts - women, from what I've seen, tend to define themselves by the situations they're in or the company they keep. A father is more likely to identify himself as a CIA analyst or a carpenter - a woman in a parallel situation will often identify herself as a mother or a Christian first.

Regardless of whether or not that's what he actually meant, I think it serves for a good explanation of why women aren't as prominent in any musical genre, and this one in particular. Metal's a very outwardly-oriented form of art - even its more introspective forms are based on external observations more often than not.

Perhaps women listen to metal because it's a scene overflowing with what they perceive as "bad boys" or "rebels". And we all know the stereotype of women liking the pseudointellectual, or even anti-intellectual shithead who supposedly doesn't care about his place in society.

Or perhaps they listen to metal because they're also human beings who can appreciate art and abstract thought (although this has not proven itself to be the case, as every woman I've met that listens to metal has horrible taste).

Perhaps women listen to metal because it's a scene overflowing with what they perceive as "bad boys" or "rebels". And we all know the stereotype of women liking the pseudointellectual, or even anti-intellectual shithead who supposedly doesn't care about his place in society.

Or perhaps they listen to metal because they're also human beings who can appreciate art and abstract thought (although this has not proven itself to be the case, as every woman I've met that listens to metal has horrible taste).

The first part I think would make up about 90% of the metal listening populace in general.

Ive met a few women who have impeccable taste in music, but few who could actually articulate why they like what they like. Same deal with guys, actually.

On topic, hipster metal is something that I associate with wolves in the throne room/velvet cocoon/tumult/hydra head records stuff. I.e art school kids playing with the black metal aesthetic "Ooh exiting 'outsider music'!" and so forth. I wouldn't worry about it though, cool hunters like that won't stick since they are always looking for the next thing.

The final statement I'm not so sure about. I believe "hipsterism" is the result of an overactive technologically advancing society paired with the stunted and even regressing growth of human beings on a personal and intellectual level. We have exponentially evolving communication and transportation, as well as an array of devices which enhance nearly all personal comforts, and an overabundance of information flow, with very, very little of these resources being used for anything but gross, self serving ends. One result being a synthesis of everything that has been considered "cool" in the past in an entirely superficial manner, or hipsterism, and I don't think it's going away anytime soon. Things like cameras and recording devices were what set us apart from most entertainers, and in the past you either had to have intelligence, skill, money or popularity (probably mostly the latter two) to get a record out there or make your own film. Now that all of the technology can be purchased for a reasonable price and occasionally even all on the same device there is a severe ambiguity between art, artist, entertainment, entertainer, and the average joe. At one point the artists and entertainers (and political leaders and so on) were more fixed in their status like gods in the pantheon, but now this separation narrative between the little guys and the celebrities is less and less prevalent. I think at first this resulted in the rise of an indie movement, but quickly snowballed into a nebulous haze of myspace music and reality television, promoting average idiots to the level of stars and demoting stars to the level of average idiots. Hipsters often nostalgically idolize stars, writers, movements and artists of the past or of the underground while the mainstream media attempts to catch up to and guide this movement with cheesy throwback movies/music/clothing fashions and horrible adaptations of underground and/or genuine artistic output (to cash in obviously). However, where does this leave us? Nothing new, unique, interesting or relevant is being produced and what is left is slowly made more and more accessible to a mediocre audience and remade by hipsters to appear like its former self but lacking all of the substance. I swear if I hear the band Bone Awl compared to Ildjarn one more time I'm going to fucking vomit.

I am reminded of this article: http://pitchfork.com/features/show-no-mercy/6455-show-no-mercy/ I stumbled across it awhile ago and have not found a better example of the "black metal hipsters" I've met in my own life. They seem to always find the black metal genre through noise, hardcore punk, and grindcore, and completely confuse everything the music is about for some other, more liberal and generally cheaper ideology. They mock the music and revert to irony when cornered about heated topics such as murder or racism, or even why they like the music in the first place (among other things), make horrible albums which are far closer to noise, punk, and some kind of prog/indie rock than anything else, and don't even bother with any death metal as it is usually far too complex, and not nearly emotionally bound enough for them to assimilate. The reason why I don't imagine them going away anytime soon is because it seems they've just begun cashing in on the niche genre and are obviously not innovating anything themselves. I've been increasingly inspired to write more of my own music and start reviewing both the hipster crap and whatever unique metal music there still is to try and help crush this trend. I'm eager to hear thoughts on this.

EDIT: I'd like to add on the topic of a reversed causal chain something I was talking about recently to a friend. He mentioned to me that Squarepusher had made a prog rock album which made sense to me since the artist obviously has a great grasp on musical structure. However, I was reminded also that I had heard the rapper Little Wayne had made a rock album from another friend, and that he had to use an auto tuner to warp his voice to the music because he couldn't sing. I think this is a perfect example of the reversal of cause and effect in hipster trends. Squarepusher could probably play several different types of music as he's a good musician in general, Little Wayne, who probably has no grasp on music whatsoever, has merely cashed in on an image rather than genuine skill, honesty, or intelligence.